» Australia to spend 250,000 dollars on Indian journalists to mend 'attacks' row

Australia to spend 250,000 dollars on Indian journalists to mend 'attacks' row

Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 11:01 [IST]

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Melbourne, Feb 23(ANI): The Australian Government will spend an estimated 250,000 dollars to bring Indian journalists to the country to mend the diplomatic row over 'racial' attacks on Indian citizens.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through its international media visits budget, will be paying flight and five-star accommodation bills of 10,000 dollars each for 25 Indian reporters to take tours of Australia, focusing on Melbourne.

The journalists will be provided luxury accommodation at top Melbourne hotels, tours of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and concert tickets.

The comfort and entertainment being lavished on the journalists, and the tightly scripted itinerary, is designed to cover up the attacks on Indian students that have seen the Indian media portray Melbourne as racist and sparked a diplomatic crisis, the Herald Sun reports.

Meanwhile, as part of the public relations campaign, the diplomacy budget for Australia's High Commission in New Delhi has also been doubled, from 50,000 dollars to 107,000 dollars to help repair the damage caused by months of negative publicity and street protests. (ANI)